Pre prohibition beer storage

Bennypapa · Jan 14, 2015

I was discussing an upcoming group bourbon barrel brew over a pale ale at one of local craft breweries marvelling at all the stainless steel when a question hit me.

How was beer stored before metal kegs and how did that affect the flavor of the beer?

unionrdr · Jan 14, 2015

They were stored in kegs in caves under the brewery for lagering & such. Some are still open for tours as I've seen on here & youtube.

LandoLincoln · Jan 14, 2015

Wooden kegs.

Maybe all old beer recipes should have some oak chips thrown in to account for the lack of oak in modern storage methods.

b-boy · Jan 14, 2015

LandoLincoln said:
Wooden kegs.

Maybe all old beer recipes should have some oak chips thrown in to account for the lack of oak in modern storage methods.

Yup - Oak chips, Brettomyces, and Lactobacillus.

unionrdr · Jan 14, 2015

Lightly charred white oak might be fun. But white oak definitely. Kinda wish I still had the old house around the block. Black oak, 3 kinds of apple, maple, pin oak. Had a small shop on the back where you go out on the deck too. Just the right size for a brewery with some washer & dryer connections too. But some oak in the old styles would be historically correct.

Bennypapa · Jan 14, 2015

Hey, check this out. http://pilsnerurquell.com/us/article/pitching-barrels

Looks like the barrels were lined with pitch so that the wood did not flavor the beer.

Euphist · Jan 16, 2015

Mmm...tar flavored beer!

Pre prohibition beer storage

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Pre prohibition beer storage

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